Discussion Paper No. 115 of 2010 on The Economics of Land Control Boards in Kenya.

Abstract

The paper develops a simple model of a landowner seeking the consent of Land Control Board (LCB). The model is based on the tradeoffs between the benefi ts and the cost of acquiring the consent. In the model, the landowner faces two types of risk: the rejection of the application, and possibility of losing land through non-consensual means if the consent is denied. The model provides a theoretical support for an argument that higher values of parcels and lower transaction costs will increase the likelihood of seeking the board’s approval. Using farmlevel cross-sectional data, the paper demonstrates that the LCB has an impact on title registration. Two conjectures on the behaviour of LCB are made based on effi ciency and rent seeking models, respectively, with anecdotal evidence supporting the latter.